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Peabody 
Perfecting  of  the  Promise 


^'^4^'^'' 


LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR  UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS 
1914  TRUSTEES'  SERIES  NO.  25 


THE  PERFECTING  OF  THE  PROMISE 

A  SERMON  BY 
REV.  FRANCIS  G.  PEABODY,  D.  D. 

March  1,  1914,  Commemorating  the  Ninth  Anniversary  of  the  Death 
of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford 


THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 

AN  ADDRESS  BY 
HON.  WILLIAM  W.  MORROW,  LL.  D. 

Founders*  Day,  March  9,  1914 


STANFORD  UNIVERSITY,  CALIFORNIA 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 

1914 


LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR  UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS 

TRUSTEES'  SERIES 


Na.  Date. 

1.  The     Leland      Stanford     Junior     University.     A 

pamphlet    of   information (No    date) 

2.  Address  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford  to  the  Board 

of  Trustees    February  1 1,   1897 

3.  Address  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford  to  the  Board 

of  Trustees    June    i,    1897 

4.  Address  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford  to  the  Board 

of  Trustees   May  31,   1899 

5.  Address  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford  to  the  Board 

of  Trustees   October  3.  1902 

6.  Address  on  "The  Right  of  Free  Speech,"  by  Jane 

La'throp  Stanford  to  the  Board  of  Trustees April  25,  1903 

7.  Petition  filed  in  proceedings  to  establish  and  con- 

strue University  Trusts    June   16,    1903 

8.  Decree   in   proceeding  to   establish   and   construe 

University  Trusts    July   3,    1903 

9.  Inaugural  address   of  Jane  Lathrop   Stanford   as 

President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees July  6,  1903 

10.  Organization  of  the  Faculty  of  the  University. ..  .March  31,  1904 

11.  Report   of   the    Organization    Committee    of    the 

Trustees  upon  the  Organization  of  the  Uni- 
versity Faculty   March  31,   1904 

12.  First  Annual  Report  of  the  President December  31,  1905 

13.  Second  Annual   Report  of  the   President April  30,  1906 

14.  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  President December  31,  1906 

15.  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the   President December  31,  1907 

16.  Trustees'   Manual    November    i,  1908 

17.  Fifth  Annual   Report  of  the   President    December  31,  1908 

18.  Sixth   Annual   Report  of  the   President    December  31,  1909 

19.  Seventh  Annual   Report   of  the  President December  31,  1910 

20.  Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  President December  31,  1911 

21.  Ninth  Annual   Report  of  the   President December  31,  1912 

22.  Addresses  of  Timothy  Hopkins,  Emmet  Rixford 

and  David  Starr  Jordan  at  the  Dedication  of 

the  Lane  Medical  Library  Building January  i,  1913 

23.  Tenth  Annual   Report  of  the   President July  31,    1913 

24.  Addresses    at    the    Installation    of    John    Casper 

Branner,  LL.D.,  as  President  of  the  Uni- 
versity  October    i,    1913 

25.  The  Perfecting  of  the  Promise,  a  sermon  by  Rev. 

Francis  G.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  March  i,  1914, 
commemorating  the  ninth  anniversary  of  the 
death  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford;  The  Found- 
ers of  the  University,  an  address  by  Hon. 
William  W.  Morrow,  LL.  D.,  Founders' 
Day,  March  9,  1914 July  31,  1914 


LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR  UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS 

1914  TRUSTEES'  SERIES  NO.  25 


THE  PERFECTING  OF  THE  PROMISE 

A  SERMON  BY 
REV.  FRANCIS  G.  PEABODY,  D.  D. 

March  I,  1914,  Commemorating  the  Ninth  Anniversary  of  the  Death 
of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford 


THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 

AN  ADDRESS  BY 
HON.  WILLIAM  W.  MORROW,  LL  D. 

Founders'  Day,  March  9,  1914 


STANFORD  UNIVERSITY,  CALIFORNIA 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 

1914 


THE  PERFECTING  OF  THE  PROMISE 


The  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford,  on  Febru- 
ary 28,  1905,  was  observed  on  Sunday,  March  i,  1914,  by  a  service  in 
the  Memorial  Church,  at  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  special 
preacher  at  the  university,  delivered  ihe  followinq-  sermon  ou  "The  Per- 
fecting' of  the   I'romise": 

"These  all,  having-  obtained  a  good  rejiort  ihrcnigh  faith,  received  not 
the  promise :  God  having  jirovided  some  better  thing-  for  us,  that  they 
without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect." — Hebrews  XT.  39-40. 

This  splendid  chapter  on  the  heroes  of  Faith,  after  describing  the 
great  procession  of  witnesses  from  the  days  of  Abel  and  Abraham  to 
the  days  of  David  and  the  Prophets,  ends  wdth  what  may  be  called  a 
Philosophy  of  History,  a  Law  of  Evolution,  which  links  the  Present 
with  the  Past.  There  is,  acc(n-ding-  to  this  jirofound  and  original 
thinker,  a  relation  of  reciprocity  between  successive  g-enerations.  a 
mutual  dependence,  which  makes  the  Present  a  fidfilhnent  of  the  Past, 
and  the  Past  an  anticipation  of  the  Present.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
present  looks  back  to  the  past,  and  out  of  all  its  achievenients  and 
distinctions  recalls  as  most  creative  and  redemptive  the  ventures  of 
its  faith.  By  faith  Abraham  went  out,  not  knowing  wdiither  he  went. 
By  faith  Moses  forsook  Egypt  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  By 
faith  kingdoms  were  subdued,  righteousness  was  wrought,  weakness 
was  made  strong  and  armies  were  turned  to  flight,  ^^'hat  seemed  at 
the  time  a  national  migration,  or  a  revolt  from  Pharaoh,  or  a  war 
with  the  Philistines,  disclosed  itself  to  the  pliilosophic  historian  as  a 
victory  of  faith,  a  ventm-e  into  the  unknown,  an  invasion  of  political 
or  economic  life  by  s]iiritual  power.  That  was  what  gave  dignity 
and  significance  to  the  history  of  Israel.  These  all  had  obtained 
their  good  report  through  faith. 

That  is  one  side  of  the  doctrine  of  reciprocity.  But  the  other  is 
set  forth  with  equal  clearness.  "These  all,"  the  Chapter  proceeds, 
"though  they  were  thus  witnesses  of  faith,  received  not  the  promise, 
God  having  provided  better  things  for  us  that  they  without  us  should 


661977 


4  lA'laiid  Stanford  Junior  l^nivcrsily 

not  be  made  ])crfcct."  The  perfectini^  of  their  faith,  in  other  \vr)rds. 
was  to  be  made  in  the  fideHty  of  their  descendants.  The  promise  of 
the  Past  had  to  be  kept  by  the  service  of  the  Present.  Good  as  were 
the  things  which  the  Elders  might  do,  God  had  provided  better  things 
for  lis,  in  the  justifying  and  ampHfying  of  their  faith.  Without  us 
their  sacrifices  and  conflicts  were  but  intimations  and  prophecies  of 
what  might  be.  The  past  needs  the  present  as  much  as  the  present 
needs  the  past.  It  is  all  one  world,  where  each  gallant  deed  of  the 
past  becomes  by  degrees  detached  from  its  immediate  circumstances, 
and  recognized  as  a  venture  of  faith  ;  and  w'here  again  each  honorable 
service  of  the  present  interprets  and  fulfills  the  imperfect  efforts  of  the 
past.  This  is  the  spiritual  heredity  which  gives  to  human  victory  its 
moral  continuity.  The  evolution  of  society  unfolds  before  the  stu- 
dents' mind  as  an  organic  and  interdependent  life. 

Now,  nowhere  is  this  reciprocity  of  the  Past  and  Present  more 
conspicuous  or  more  effective  than  in  a  university.  The  associated 
life  of  teachers  and  students  seems  on  its  surface  to  be  the  most  fluid 
and  shifting  of  relationships.  The  classes  come  and  go.  The  staff  of 
teachers  changes  from  year  to  year.  The  stream  of  academic  life 
flows  by  one  as  he  watches  it  and  bears  with  it  all  that  is  familiar, 
so  that  when  he  returns  to  a  university  after  a  few  years  of  absence, 
he  walks  as  a  stranger  among  buildings  and  methods  of  instruction, 
and  youthful  faces,  which  did  not,  in  his  day,  exist.  And  yet,  below 
this  superficial  changefulness  there  is  a  deeper  continuity  and  unity 
which  makes  a  university,  to  one  who  has  lived  in  it  and  loved  it, 
always  the  same.  The  eddies  and  ripples  on  its  surface  pass,  but  it 
is  the  same  stream  flowing  in  the  same  channel,  and  one  may  sit  on 
its  bank  and  dream  the  same  dreams.  The  family-circle  widens  as 
new  classes  claim  their  heritage,  but  it  is  the  same  Alma  Alater  who 
is  the  parent  of  all.  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  most  curious  experiences 
in  life  to  discover  that  the  longer  one  lives  the  more  he  loves  his  uni- 
versity. Other  bonds  of  intimacy  grow  weaker  as  time  and  distance 
put  their  strain  on  one's  affections,  but  this  tie  of  relationship  has  the 
almost  unique  quality  of  growing  firmer  and  more  compelling  with  the 
passing  of  the  years.  The  older  one  grows  the  more  romantic  and 
poetic  seem  those  vanished  days  of  youth.  The  university,  with  all 
the  external  '  changes  which  make  it  seem  another  world,  remains  to 
its  oldest  srraduates  the  same  centre  of  loval  affection. 


The  Perfectin,^"  of  tlie  Promise  5 

What  is  the  secret  of  this  academic  continuity  which  binds  together 
the  passing  generations  in  undiminished  attachment?  It  is  to  be 
found  in  that  spiritual  reciprocity  of  which  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews 
writes.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  discovery  that  the  strength  of  a  uni- 
versity depends,  not  on  its  buildings  or  its  endowments,  or  even  its  in- 
struction, but  on  the  perpetuation  of  a  tradition,  on  the  inheritance  of 
a  sentiment,  on  a  gradually  accumulated  and  perpetuated  ideal  of  life, 
which  the  new-comer  may  only  dimly  appreciate  or  accept,  but  which 
creates  the  atmosphere  he  breathes,  sustains  him  even  while  he  is  un- 
conscious of  its  presence,  and  finally,  as  it  becomes  recognized, 
strengthens  and  steadies  his  whole  later  life.  "A  university,"  one  of 
the  most  honored  university  administrators,  President  Gilman  of 
Johns  Hopkins,  once  said,  "is  a  home  of  idealism.  If  it  were  not 
that,  it  would  be  better  that  its  walls  should  crumble  in  a  night."  I 
happen  to  be  associated  with  a  university  which  has  large  resources  in 
its  laboratories,  libraries,  endowments  and  equipments,  and  these  ma- 
terial advantages  naturally  draw  to  it  many  students  to  whom  such 
opportunities  seem  a  sufficient  persuasion.  But  they  do  not  become 
Harvard  men  until  they  enter  into  quite  another  region  of  academic 
appreciation.  They  begin  to  hear  of  a  Puritan  youth,  dying  of  con- 
sumption, far  from  his  English  home,  and  bequeathing  a  few  hundred 
pounds  of  his  modest  estate,  and  three  hundred  books,  to  the  little 
school  which  had  been  set  up  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness,  between 
the  Indians  and  the  sea.  Every  pound  of  John  Harvard's  money  was, 
so  far  as  we  know,  soon  spent,  and  every  book  save  one — and  that  a 
valueless  treatise  on  antique  theology — was  soon  destroyed  by  fire. 
Nothing  seemed  left  but  a  tradition.  The  pedigree,  the  physical  ap- 
pearance, even  the  signature  of  John  Harvard,  have  been  among  the 
mysteries  of  antiquarian  research.  And  yet,  on  that  tradition  of  a 
modest,  devout  and  dying  youth,  the  University  is  founded ;  and  as 
that  tradition  fastens  on  a  young  man's  mind  today  it  lifts  him  out 
of  the  rut  of  modern  life  and  sets  his  feet  on  the  high,  firm  ground  of 
moral  idealism  and  self-forgetting  service.  By  faith,  he  says,  John 
Harvard  went  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went,  seeking  a  State 
which  had  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  was  God.  So  this 
youth  begins  to  breathe  the  atmosphere  which  refreshes  and  exhila- 
rates his  life.  And  then  there  is  superadded  to  that  original  tradition 
the  long  history  of  other  lives   which  have  given  dignity  and   worth 


6  Lelancl  Stanford  Junior  University 

to  the  growing  college,  and  the  new  student  gathers  them  all  together 
into  his  Walhalla  of  Faith.  "And  what  shall  I  more  say,"  he  repeats 
in  the  New  Testament  language,  "for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell 
of  statesmen  and  orators,  of  philosophers  and  poets  and  ])reachers,  of 
Adams  and  Sumner,  of  Emerson  and  Longfellow,  of  Channing  and 
Brooks;  who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness 
and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  evil?"  So  the  new-comer,  friendless 
and  lonesome  though  he  may  be,  finds  himself  gradually  admitted  to 
this  ennobling  companionship  and  sustained  in  his  steps  by  this  mo- 
mentum of  an  honorable  past. 

But  that  is  but  one-half  of  this  academic  continuity.  If  the  past  sup- 
ports the  present,  so  the  present  must  justify  the  past.  All  these  achieve- 
ments and  sacrifices  which  adorn  academic  history  become  fruitless  unless 
they  issue  into  a  more  substantial  and  serviceable  life.  The  duty  of  each 
newly  matriculated  student  carries  into  it  the  prophecy  and  destiny  of  the 
whole  organic  life.  These  all  receive  not  the  promise,  God  having  pro- 
vided better  things  for  us  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  per- 
fect. A  few  years  ago,  when  my  University  was  celebrating  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  foundation,  a  procession  of  undergrad- 
uates marched  through  the  streets  bearing  many  flags,  and  finally  came  tlu? 
freshman  class,  which  had  been  admitted  but  a  month  ago,  carrying  a 
banner  with  what  seemed  a  most  audacious  and  amusing  inscription : 
"The  University,"  it  read,  "has  been  waiting  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  for  us."  And  yet,  in  a  profound  and  searching  sense,  that  boy- 
ish boast  was  true.  This  was  precisely  wdiat  the  long  history  of  the 
University  had  produced.  For  these  the  privations  of  primitive  colo- 
nists in  the  wilderness  were  endured,  for  these  the  faith  and  prayers 
of  many  generations  had  been  ofifered.  Without  these  happy,  jesting, 
delightful  boys  the  whole  great  evolution  of  the  University  had  been 
in  vain.  The  whole  creation,  as  Paul  said  of  the  world,  had  waited 
for  the  manifestations  of  these  last  sons  of  God. 

These  general  indications  of  the  nature  and  charm  of  university 
life  find  a  most  impressive  illustration  on  this  Campus ;  and  I  recall 
them  to  you  today  as  we  meet  for  this  memorial  service.  Yesterday 
was  the  ninth  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Stanford,  and  our 
service  of  worship  today,  in  this  church,  wdiich  was  the  centre  of  her 
afifection  and  her  generosity,  would  be  ill-timed  indeed  if  it  did  not 
express  the  permanent  gratitude  felt,  not  only  by  this  University,  but 


The  Perfecting  of  the  Promise  7 

by  all  who  care  for  the  higher  education  of  America.  I  cannot  as  a 
stranger  presume  to  speak  in  detail  of  this  indomitable  woman ;  but  it 
is  possible  that  the  dramatic  trials  which  she  encountered  and  con- 
(|uered  may  impress  a  stranger  cjuite  as  freely  and  as  keenly  as  thev 
do  those  to  whom  the  events  are  familiar.  The  career  of  Mrs.  Stan- 
ford is  the  most  distinguished  instance  in  America  of  parental  affec- 
tion dedicated  to  a  great  cause;  a  perfect  love  which  cast  out  fear;  a 
charity  which  endured  all  things,  hoped  all  things  and  never  failed.  I 
have  spoken  of  the  pathetic  figure  of  young  John  Harvard  dedicating 
his  scanty  means  to  the  education  of  young  men  like  himself.  Rut  an 
even  more  appealing  and  dramatic  figure  in  the  history  of  education 
in  America  is  that  of  a  boy  of  sixteen  years,  dying  in  Italy,  and  giv- 
ing his  name  to  a  great  University  on  the  remote  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
The  stranger  may  survey  with  admiration  your  surroundings,  your 
landscape,  your  refinements  of  architecture,  your  multiplication  of  re- 
sources, but  he  is  finally  arrested  and  quite  overwhelmed  by  the  more 
central  fact  that  all  this  stately  organism  has  at  its  heart  the  life  oi 
a  little  boy,  and  the  love  of  two  stricken  parents.  Other  institutions 
have  cherished  other  ideals  which  have  been  wrought  into  their  foun- 
dations, and  have  stamped  themselves  upon  academic  life.  The  most 
important  university  of  Europe,  for  example,  that  of  Berlin,  is  a  mon- 
ument of  Germany's  emancipation,  just  a  century  ago,  from  the  sway 
of  Napoleon,  and  the  prevailing  note  of  appeal  to  students  from  year 
to  year  is  that  of  patriotism,  the  call  of  the  scholar  to  serve  his  coun- 
try, the  application  of  learning  to  statesmanship.  The  University  of 
Oxford,  again,  is  the  direct  descendant  of  the  monastic  communities 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  detached  from  the  world  in  the  privilege  and  lib- 
erty of  the  higher  learning,  with  no  obligation  of  citizenship  but  to 
pray  for  the  souls  of  their  founders ;  and  this  monastic  spirit,  with  its 
instincts  of  a  spiritual  aristocracy,  still  prevails  among  Oxford  Dons 
who  are  the  successors  of  the  monks  and  who  may  still  be  receiving 
a  stipend  for  their  prayers,  even  though  in  their  philosophy  or  teach- 
ing there  be  not  a  shred  of  religion  left.  One  may  watch  the  same 
survival  of  idealism  in  many  American  institutions.  One  New  Eng- 
land college  was  primarily  founded  to  teach  the  Indians,  and  the  spirit 
of  adventure  and  courage  is  still  prevalent  in  the  administration  and 
even  in  the  student  life  of  Dartmouth.  Another  college  cherishes  as 
its  central  shrine  the  monument  which  marks  the  spot  of  a  haystack. 


8  Tvcland  Stanford  Junior  University 

near  which  three  students  met  and  consecrated  themselves  to  the 
work  of  foreign  missions,  and  in  whose  work  the  vast  enterprise  of 
the  American  Board  modestly  began,  and  ever  since  that  day  the  mis- 
sionary call  to  self-forgetting"  and  happ\'  sacrifice  has  met  a  glad 
response  at  Williams  Colleg'e.  But  here  you  strike  an  even  deeper 
and  more  universal  note  ;  the  hope  of  youth  and  the  memories  of  ag;e  ; 
the  full  chord  which  is  sounded  in  the  hariuony  of  a  boy's  life  and  a 
parent's  love.  Under  the  family  system  of  Japan  it  became  the  high- 
est privilege  of  children  to  reverence  the  memory  of  their  parents  and 
to  offer  prayers  at  their  shrine.  It  was  a  noble,  but  a  backward - 
looking  religion.  Here  you  are  initiated  into  the  opposite  type  of  rev- 
erence, the  offering  of  parents  to  the  memory  of  their  child — the  for- 
ward-looking, expectant,  fulfillment  of  the  tragically  short  career,  the 
immortality,  not  of  the  parents'  lives  which  were  so  soon  to  end,  but  of 
the  son's  life  which  had  hardly  begun  to  be. 

And  that  parental  love  had  its  natural  fruit  in  a  persistent  and  in- 
destructible faith.  The  time  soon  came  when  all  that  the  Uni- 
versity had  to  live  on  was  this  faith  of  Mrs.  Stanford.  The  vicissi- 
tudes in  which  this  University  was  soon  involved,  the  loss  of  re- 
sources which  seemed  fatal,  and  the  dependence  for  its  very  existence 
on  the  unremitting  sacrifices  of  one  lonely  woman,  make  up  a  story 
of  faith  quite  worthy  to  be  enrolled  in  the  list  of  Israelite  heroes.  By 
faith  she  went  on,  not  knowing  wdiither  she  went.  By  faith  she  looked 
for  a  University  that  had  foundations.  By  faith  she  chose  to  suft'er 
afifliction  with  the  people  of  her  choice  rather  than  to  enjoy  pleas- 
ures for  a  season.  By  faith  she  obtained  promises  of  help,  stopped 
the  mouths  of  creditors,  quenched  the  violence  of  enemies,  escaped 
the  edge  of  the  courts,  and  finally  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  litiga- 
tion. And  then  she  died,  in  good  time,  with  her  faith  unshattered  by 
the  disaster  which  might  perhaps  have  broken  her  heart.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  the  first  object  which  meets  the  visitor  as  he  ap- 
proaches these  halls  is  a  statue  of  Faith,  bearing  her  own  cross.  There 
might  have  been  written  under  it  the  great  words  of  the  Apostle:  "This 
is  the  victory  which  overcometh  the  world,  even  your  faith." 

Such  is  the  inheritance  into  which  each  student  enters  here,  and 
which  dignifies  his  daily  work  and  will  enrich  his  later  memories,  not 
with  information  and  acquisition  only,  but  with  a  sentiment  and  ideal 
worthy  of  an  educated  life.     That  is  what  rescues  a  great  institution 


The  Perfecting-  of  the  Promise  9 

from  the  persistent  risk  of  becomin<^  a  mechanical  and  external  organ- 
ization and  makes  it  a  body  at  whose  centre  is  a  sonl.  Just  as  at  the 
heart  of  these  alluring;  quadrangles  with  their  many  doors  opening; 
into  special  sciences  and  arts,  there  stands  this  Memorial  Church  as 
the  symbol  of  a  spiritual  centre,  so  at  the  heart  of  all  these  varied  and 
sometimes  divisive  activities  stands  this  act  of  love,  which,  like 
the  heart  in  the  body  transmits  its  blood  to  every  part  and  marks  the 
beat  of  vitality  and  health.  Science,  however  active  and  wise  it  may 
be,  is  not  likely  under  these  conditions  to  obliterate  sentiment.  The 
head  and  the  hand  of  the  University  will  not  forg^et  their  dependence 
upon  the  heart.  An  efficient  university  may  be  recognized  not  alone 
by  the  growth  of  its  plant  but  by  the  fulfillment  of  its  ideal.  Its 
greatest  asset  is  a  fine  tradition.  Its  finest  product  is  not  its  experts 
or  technicians  but  its  \italizing' faith  in  truth  and  goodness  at  the 
heart  of  the  world. 

Such  is  the  significance  of  this  commemoration  as  it  turns  toward 
the  past.  Rut,  finally,  there  remains  the  other  side  of  the  Apostolic 
teaching  of  historic  reciprocity.  These,  though  they  died  in  faith,  re- 
ceived not  the  promise:  for  they  without  us  could  not  be  made  perfect. 
The  perfecting  of  the  founders'  promise  can  be  attained  only  as  each 
successive  year  justifies  their  hope  and  prayer.  The  broadening  of 
the  stream  is  the  only  convincing  evidence  of  the  fulness  of  the  foun- 
tain. The  life  of  a  little  boy  who  died  in  Florence  is  taken  up  and 
perpetuated  in  the  life  of  each  young  man  or  woman  who  humbly 
accepts  the  privilege  and  opportunity  here  ofifered  in  his  name.  To 
the  founders,  the  university  was  the  reincarnation  of  their  son : 
and  as  they  had  looked  to  him  to  perpetuate  their  name,  so  in  his 
name  they  adopted  the  sons  and  daughters  of  California.  And  so 
this  service  of  commemoration  becomes  a  service  of  consecration.  It 
is  a  day  not  merely  for  historical  appreciation,  but  for  a  personal 
pledge.  What  the  founders  wanted  here  was  not  honor,  but  results. 
That  was  what  the  apostle  realized  as  he  recalled  the  heroism  of 
Israel.  "Seeing,"  he  says,  "that  we  are  compassed  about  by  this 
cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  run  with  a  greater  patience  our  own  race.'' 
The  same  message  is  delivered  to  you  today.  The  momentum  of  the 
faith  in  which  your  l^niversity  began  ought  to  carry  you  far  on  your 
own  way.  A  comuumity  which  is  the  ]M-oduct  of  a  great  faith  must 
run  with  a  greater  patience  its  own  race.     The  spirit  of  the  past  looks 


lo  Lclaiid  Stanford  Junior  University 

down  upon  even  the  least  important  student  of  today  and  says:  "The 
University,  which  was  founded  twenty-three  years  ago  with  such  sa- 
cred hopes,  and  has  endured  such  extreme  vicissitudes,  and  has  now 
entered  upon  such  a  career  of  national  service,  has  been,  all  the  while, 
and  through  all  these  dramatic  transitions,  waiting,  with  parental 
expectancy,  for  you." 


THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 


At  the  Founders'  Day  exercises  of  19 14.  held  on  Monday  morning, 
j\Iarch  9.  in  the  Assembly  Hall  at  the  university,  the  following-  address, 
entitled  "The  Founders  of  the  University."'  was  delivered  by  the  Honor- 
able William  W.  Mc^rrow,  LL.  D..  for  man\"  years  a  friend  and 
associate  of  Senator  and   ]\Irs.  Stanford  : 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

The  invitation  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  from  the  Faculty  Com- 
mittee to  deliver  the  Founders"  Day  address  on  this  occasion  came  with 
the  suggestion  that  I  should  speak  from  my  personal  knowledge  of  the 
life  and  public  services  of  Senator  Leland  Stanford.  The  suggestion 
was  most  acceptable,  since  it  required  nothing  more  serious  or  exacting 
than  the  recalling  of  events  in  the  general  order  of  a  narrative.  This 
effort  has  been  one  of  unusual  personal  interest  for  me,  and  has  brought 
to  my  mind  many  interesting  associations  connected  with  public  affairs 
of  this  state  and  nation,  in  which  Senator  Stanford  was  a  prominent  fig- 
ure, and  which  T  think  illustrate  in  a  marked  degree  his  originality,  cour- 
age and  strength  of  character. 

My  acquaintance  with  Feland  Stanford  covered  a  ])eriod  of  more  than 
thirty  years,  and  during  part  of  that  time  our  relations  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  phases  of  his  character  were  brought  under  my  observa- 
tion that  made  me  know  him  as  a  most  uni(|ue,  indciiendent  and  com- 
manding personality. 

He  was  born  at  Watervliet,  New  "S'ork,  on  March  9,  1824 — ninetv 
years  ago  today.  Watervliet  is  about  eight  miles  above  Albanv,  on  the 
Hudson  River.  His  father  was  of  English  stock,  with  Irish  blood  in  his 
veins.  This  was  a  combination  from  which  we  might  expect  an  indi- 
vidual possessed  of  vigorous  rjualities  of  mind  and  body,  coupled  with 
courage  and  sound  judgment,  and  balanced  with  a  strain  of  quaint,  hajipy 
humor.  These  qualities  do  in  fact  appear  to  have  been  inherited  in  full 
vigor  by  the  son.  The  father  was  a  farmer,  and  for  a  time  at  least  a 
railroad  contractor.     These  parental  occupations  and  surroundings  must 


12  [.clriiid   ^^taiiford  junior  I'nivcrsity 

have  given  the  son  an  early  practieal  view  of  the  affairs  of  hfe  and  a  hahit 
j1  constant  self  reliance  that  would  be  likely  to  grow  into  marked  inde- 
pendence of  judgment  and  will. 

We  start  then  with  heredity,  environment  and  an  early  experience  fa- 
vorable to  the  future  efficiency  and  independence  of  the  son,  who  had, 
moreover,  the  advantage  of  a  good,  practical  education.  He  studied  law 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1848.  In  that  year  he  yielded  to  the  sjiirit 
of  that  dav  and  moved  west  to  Port  Washington.  Wisconsin,  where  he 
practiced  law.  He  visited  his  New  York  home  in  1850  and  was  there 
married  to  Miss  Jane  Lathrop.  and  returned  with  his  wife  to  Port  Wash- 
ington. In  1852  a  fire  destroyed  his  law  library  and  household  effects. 
This  misfortune  caused  him  to  consider  the  advantage  of  going  still  fiu'- 
ther  west,  and  as  a  result  he  came  to  California.  He  left  his  wife  with 
her  father  in  Albany,  New  York,  and  reached  California  in  July,  1852. 
He  visited  his  brothers,  who  were  engaged  in  a  general  merchandise 
business  in  Sacramento,  and  soon  after  he  entered  into  the  same  business 
for  himself  at  Cold  Springs,  in  Eldorado  county.  In  1853  he  opened  a 
store  at  Alichigan  Bluffs,  in  Placer  county,  a  very  prosperous  mining  sec- 
tion, and  he  also  engaged  in  mining  and  was  highly  successful.  In  1855 
he  purchased  the  business  of  his  brothers  in  Sacramento  and  the  same; 
\ear  returned  east  and  brought  Mrs.  Stanford  to  California  and  estab- 
lished his  home  at  Sacramento. 

He  was  an  original  Republican,  and  with  a  few  others  organized  the 
Republican  party  in  Sacramento  in  1856.  All  Republicans  were  pro- 
gressives in  those  days,  and  correspondingly  fearless.  Senator  Cole.  '>:i 
his  memoirs,  speaking  of  the  Republican  party  in  Sacramento  at  that 
tin\e,  says :  "The  party  at  its  inception  was  extremely  hmited  in  num- 
bers" ;  that  besides  himself  there  were  "Leland  Stanford,  C.  P.  Hunting- 
ion,  Mark  Hopkins,  Edwin  B.  and  Charles  Crocker,  and  that  besides 
these  there  were  not  for  some  time  as  many  as  could  be  counted  on  one's 
fingers."  But  this  small  party  does  not  appear  to  have  been  ignored  by 
others  in  the  community  because  of  its  lack  of  numbers.  Its  members 
were  denounced  as  agitators,  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  traitors  to  the 
country.  Violence  against  them  was  resorted  to  occasionally,  and  ef- 
forts of  intimidation  often.  Senator  Cole  gives  a  copy  of  a  public  notice, 
printed  in  large  type  and  posted  about  the  city  of  Sacramento  on  May  13. 
1856.  It  was  headed, — "To  Arms"  and  called  upon  "all  good  citizens 
to  attend  a  public  meeting"  at  a  place  named  "to  devise  means  to  protect 


The  Founders  of  the  Uni\:ersity  13 

the  public  welfare  by  appointing'  a  committee  to  Jiang  all  the  leaders  and 
as  many  of  the  attaches  of  said  traitors  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to 
restore  the  public  quiet  and  put  a  stop  to  such  treasonable  practices." 
This  notice  was  understood  to  be  directed  against  Mr.  Stanford,  Mr.  Cole 
and  their  associates.  It  was  probably  nothing  more  than  a  species  of  in- 
timidation ;  but  whatever  its  object  it  could  not  have  been  highly  pleasant 
reading  for  those  to  whom  it  referred.  The  historian  fails  to  give  us  any 
further  information  concerning  the  meeting.  Nobody  appears  to  have  been 
hung ;  but  we  are  left  to  infer  that  this  little  band  of  agitators  followed 
Tranklin's  wise  advice  given  to  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence.   They  hung  together  and  thus  escaped  being  hanged  separately. 

I  do  not  mention  these  matters  to  recall  ancient  animosities,  long  since 
forgiven  and  forgotten.  Mr.  Stanford  was  himself  among  the  first  to 
forgive  and  forget,  save  the  humor  of  some  of  the  situations,  to  which 
he  sometimes  referred ;  but  I  mention  these  incidents  to  show  you  the  man 
in  action  under  circumstances  and  conditions  calculated  to  test  the  strength 
of  his  physical  and  moral  fiber,  and  his  ability  to  meet  the  passions  and 
turbulence  of  a  new  community  fearlessly  and  with  perfect  composure. 

In  1857  Mr.  Stanford  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  state  treas- 
urer; but  the  party  was  of  such  recent  origin  that  its  nominations  were 
merely  matters  of  form  to  maintain  the  party  organization.  In  1859  he 
was  the  nominee  of  his  party  for  governor.  The  Democratic  party  was 
divided.  One  wing,  being  known  as  the  Lecompton  party,  nominated  a 
ticket  with  Mr.  Latham  as  the  candidate  for  governor,  and  the  other 
wing,  or  Anti-Lecompton  party,  nominated  a  ticket  with  Judge  John 
Curry  for  that  office.  There  was  a  natural  tendency  for  the  latter  partv 
to  unite  with  the  Republican  party,  as  it  subsequently  did ;  but  at  this 
lime  there  were  influences  at  work  in  favor  of  the  Republican  party  with- 
drawing from  the  field.  Horace  Greeley,  the  editor  of  the  Nczi'  York 
Tribune,  a  man  of  distinction  and  the  foremost  Republican  in  the  United 
States,  arrived  in  California  in  the  summer  of  1859.  He  was  everywhere 
received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  and  accorded  every  consideration. 
He  made  a  number  of  speeches  in  the  state,  and  regarding  himself  as  en- 
titled by  his  position  to  advise  Republicans  as  to  their  duty,  he  proposed 
that  they  should  withdraw  their  ticket  and  support  the  Anti-Lecompton 
party. 

The  proposition  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Stanford.  His  rc])ly  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  man.     He  declined  to  withdraw,  maintaining  with  firm- 


14  Leland  Stanford  Jtmior  University 

ness  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Repubhcan  party  to  stand  by  its  princi- 
ples, whatever  tlie  result.  He  preferred  to  go  down  to  defeat  rather  than 
to  surrender  to  an  op]wsing-  party  the  standard  placed  in  his  hands  by  his 
political  friends  ancl  supporters.  He  was  not  a  mere  office  seeker.  He 
was  charged  with  the  dut}-  of  preserving-  the  integrity  of  a  party  organi- 
zation and  he  would  perform  that  duty.  T.ike  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  would  not 
be  the  last  to  desert.  He  would  not  desert  at  all.  He  was  defeated  at 
the  polls,  but  he  demonstrated  to  the  people  of  the  state  that  he  was  not  a 
weak  nor  uncertain  leader. 

He  was  again  nominated  for  governor  in  1861.  and  it  was  in  this  cam- 
paign that  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him.  I  was  then  located  at 
Santa  Rosa.  I  was  anxious  to  hear  him,  although  I  was  not  then  a  voter. 
I  had  come  to  California  two  years  before  from  the  state  of  Illinois,  where 
political  questions  occupied  the  public  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  almost 
every  other  subject.  I  had  heard  such  public  speakers  as  Lincoln,  Doug- 
las, Trumbull,  Browning  and  many  others  of  their  type.  These  were  all 
rugged  men  of  distinguished  ability,  combined  with  great  force  of  char- 
acter. Coming  here  from  such  a  field  of  political  discussion,  my  first  im- 
pression of  California  speakers  was  a  disappointment.  They  seemed  to  me 
to  be  lacking  in  force  and  in  an  understanding  of  national  questions.  I  in- 
quired for  the  joint  debates  between  candidates,  with  which  I  had  been 
familiar,  and  the  keen  discussion  of  such  national  questions  as  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  the  Lecompton  Constitu- 
tion. In  Illinois  the  discussion  of  political  questions  was  about  the  only 
diversion  the  people  had,  and  they  were  accustomed  to  hear  public  speak- 
ers gifted  with  the  force  of  persuasive  eloquence.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
the  California  speakers  did  not  measure  up  to  the  standard  we  had  in 
Illinois ;  but  I  was  told  to  be  patient  until  I  heard  such  speakers  as  Colonel 
E.  D.  Baker,  Frederick  P.  Tracy,  Thomas  Starr  King,  Thomas  Fitch, 
Henry  Edgerton  and  other  orators  of  repute.  I  soon  heard  these  speak- 
ers, and  while  they  had  culture  of  a  high  order,  they  lacked  the  plain, 
homely,  frontier  character  of  the  middle  west.  But  I  soon  became  con- 
vinced that  there  were  political  orators  in  California  as  well  as  in  Illi- 
nois. Incidentally  it  may  be  said  that  Colonel  Baker,  the  greatest  orato-- 
of  modern  times,  was  from  Illinois  and  had  been  an  associate  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. He  had  been  trained  in  the  Illinois  school  of  political  discussion, 
and  was  a  master  of  the  art.  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  a  brilliant  orator 
and  a  great  statesman,  and  it  was  with  these  men  that  Mr.  Stanford  came 
into  prominence  in  California. 


The  Founders  of  the  University  15 

While  I  was  in  this  state  of  curiosity  about  the  pubHc  speakers  of  the 
State,  Mr.  Stanford  was  advertised  to  speak  in  Santa  Rosa  on  the  issues 
of  the  day.  !  He  was  a  leader  of  the  new  party,  based  upon  a  new  and  an 
untried  platform  of  principles.  The  political  sentiment  of  that  place  at 
that  time  was  decidedl\-  unfriendly  to  the  new  partv  and  its  candidates. 
Mr.  Stanford  was  received  respectfully.  I)ut  not  enthusiasticallw  His 
personal  appearance  was  impressive.  He  was  then  thirty-seven  years  of 
a^e,  large  in  frame,  with  a  swarthy  complexion  anrl  something  of  the 
plain,  rugged  features  of  the  frontiersman.  He  was  dignified  in  manner, 
with  a  peculiarly  attractive  composure.  His  voice  was  melodious  and 
pleasant ;  his  language  clear  and  expressive.  He  was  listened  to  by  a 
large  audience  with  respectful  interest.  He  wasted  no  time  on  jmmatc- 
rial  questions,  but  went  directly  into  the  issues  of  the  campaign.  The 
platform  of  the  party  had  declared  in  favor  of  the  common  school  sys- 
tem, and  insisted  that  it  should  be  sustained  in  all  of  its  essential  features, 
and  its  benefits  and  efficiency  extended.  The  platform  also  declared  in 
favor  of  distributing  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States  to  homestead 
settlers,  and  pledged  the  party  to  aid  the  immediate  construction  of  a 
transcontinental  railroad.  The  platform  declared  further  that  the  Repub- 
licans of  California  pledged  themselves,  and  all  they  had,  to  sustain  the 
national  administration  at  Washington.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  elected  the 
previous  November,  and  on  the  fourth  of  March  had  been  inaugurated 
president.  Mr.  Stanford  had  been  a  delegate  from  California  to  the  na- 
tional Republican  convention  that  had  placed  Mr.  Lincoln  in  nomination. 
and  had  advocated  his  election.  He  was  the  president's  friend  and  ad- 
viser, and  the  two  men  had  much  that  was  in  common. 

In  Mr.  Stanford's  speech  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer,  he  discussed 
the  platform  of  the  party  and  declared  his  adherence  to  its  principles.  He 
spoke  with  the  eloquence  of  an  honest  conviction.  He  believed  that  the 
public  school  system  was  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  form  of  govern- 
ment ;  that  the  public  domain  should  be  given  freely  to  actual  settlers  for 
the  building  of  homes ;  that  the  Pacific  railroad  should  be  built  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  that  the  people  of  the  Pacific  Coast  might  have 
quick  and  ample  communication  with  the  east.  He  declared  that  he  was 
doing  and  would  continue  to  do  what  he  could  to  further  the  project; 
and  in  concluding  he  paid  a  splendid  and  feeling  tribute  to  the  high  char- 
acter and  patriotism  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  his  administration,  and  its  pur- 
pose to  maintain  the  perpetuit\'  of  the  union. 


l6  L<2lan(l  Stanford  Junior  I'nivcrsitv 

It  is  difficult  now  to  understand  how  any  of  these  questions  could  have 
ever  been  a  subject  of  serious  discussion  :  but  they  were,  and  the  discus- 
sions were  vigorous,  sometimes  violent.  ^Ir.  Stanford  oresented  them 
in  an  able  and  fearless  manner  in  all  of  the  i)rincipal  localities  of  the 
state.  He  gained  the  confidence  of  the  people  by  his  plain,  straightfor- 
ward speech  and  manner,  and  was  elected  by  a  large  plurality.  His  term 
of  office  was  for  two  years.  Having  become  president  of  the  Central  Pa- 
cific Railroad,  then  in  course  of  construction,  he  declined  a  renomination. 
During  his  term  of  office  as  governor  he  gave  the  state  a  wise  and  an 
efficient  administration,  and  was  counted  one  of  the  "war  governors"  of 
the  nation,  taking  a  place  in  support  of  the  national  cause  alongside  of 
such  governors  as  Andrews  of  Massachusetts,  Washburn  of  Maine,  [Mor- 
gan of  Kew  York,  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania,  Morton  of  Indiana,  Yates  of 
Illinois  and  Kirkwood  of  Iowa. 

In  June,  1861,  and  ten  clays  after  Mr.  Stanford  had  been  nominated 
for  governor,  he  and  a  few  other  citizens  of  Sacramento  organized  and 
mcorporated  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  under  the  laws  of  the 
state  of  California,  with  Mr.  Stanford  as  the  president  of  the  corporation. 
Congress  had  not  then  passed  the  act  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  rail- 
road and  telegraph  line  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
That  act  was  not  passed  until  July  i,  1862.  It  organized  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Railroad  Company  with  an  imposing  array  of  stockholders,  to  build 
c\  railroad  west  from  the  Missouri  River  to  a  connection  with  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  of  California.  Mr.  Stanford's  associates  were  not  so  con- 
spicuous, but  they  were  men  of  energy,  ability  and  character.  Among  them 
were  Theodore  D.  Judah,  a  distinguished  engineer,  C.  P.  Huntington, 
Mark  Hopkins  and  Charles  Crocker,  merchants  of  Sacramento.  There 
were  a  few  others,  but  these  were  the  men  who  afterwards  became  known 
in  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  in  the  affairs  of  the  state  and  nation 
in  connection  with  this  enterprise. 

The  object  of  the  corporation  which  these  men  formed  was  to  construct 
a  railroad  from  Sacramento  eastward  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  trans- 
continental railroad,  and  on  January  8,  1863,  Governor  Stanford  turned 
the  first  spadeful  of  earth  in  Sacramento  for  its  construction.  At  that 
time  the  only  railroads  in  the  state  were  a  short  line  from  Sacramento  to 
Folsom,  a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles,  and  a  partly  constructed  railroad 
of  about  twenty  miles  from  San  Francisco  to  San  Jose.  The  construction 
ol  these  two  short  lines  had  been  very  expensive,  and  were  in  fact  a  warn- 


The  Founders  of  the  University  17 

ing  against  the  prosecution  of  another  such  enterprise  at  that  time.  Rail- 
road iron,  locomotives  and  other  rolling  stock  had  to  be  brought  from  the 
east  around  the  Horn  in  sailing  vessels ;  and  the  cost  of  all  kinds  of  mate- 
rials was  very  high,  and  labor  dear  and  scarce. 

The  prospect  that  the  men  who  had  organized  the  Central  Pacific  Com- 
pany would  complete  any  considerable  part  of  the  transcontinental  road, 
under  the  then  prevailing  conditions,  was  not  very  assuring.  It  was  not,  in 
fact,  generally  expected.  They  were  not  men  of  wealth,  nor  did  they  have 
any  of  the  resources  that  usually  give  men  the  command  of  wealth.  It  was 
stated,  and  I  have  no  doubt  truthfully,  that  they  could  not  with  all  of 
their  own  means  have  built  twenty  miles  of  the  road ;  but  this  fact  does  not 
appear  to  have  discouraged  them  in  the  least ;  nor  did  the  manifest  lack  of 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  public  seem  to  deter  them  in  the  prosecution 
of  this  great  enterprise. 

The  engineer,  Judah.  who  had  been  engaged  in  exploring  a' route  over 
the  Sierras  for  a  railroad,  recommended  three  routes  as  practicable, — 
one  through  Eldorado  county,  by  way  of  Georgetown,  one  through  Placer 
county  by  way  of  Auburn  and  Dutch  Flat,  and  one  through  Nevada 
county  by  way  of  Nevada  City.  The  middle  route,  by  way  of  Auburn 
and  Dutch  Flat,  was  adopted.  This  action  aroused  the  fierce  opposition  of 
those  who  were  interested  in  the  other  routes,  and  was  the  cause  of  much 
ill-feeling  and  adverse  public  criticism.  Dutch  Flat  at  that  time  was  a 
prosperous  mining  camp  and  was  on  the  line  of  a  wagon  road  over  the 
mountains  into  the  state  of  Nevada,  called  the  Dutch  Flat  wagon  road, 
and  this  name  was  afterwards  applied,  with  derision,  to  the  railroad  as 
it  was  being  constructed  up  the  rough  mountain  slope,  and  the  railroad 
itself  was  called  the  "Dutch  Flat  Swindle."  It  was  said  that  the  road,  al- 
though it  was  being  constructed  under  the  terms  of  the  act  of  Congress 
providing  for  a  transcontinental  road,  and  was  being  aided  by  a  land  grant, 
and  by  the  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  nation  in  government  bonds,  would 
never  be  completed  above  Colfax  ;  that  beyond  that  point  the  road  was  im- 
practicable for  a  railroad  because  of  the  deep  snows  of  the  summit  an  1 
the  falling  of  the  dreadful  avalanches  sweeping  everything  before  them  : 
that  the  railroad  could  not  l)e  operated  at  all  during  the  winter  time,  and 
the  roadbed  and  track  would  inevitably  be  swept  away  by  the  fearful 
storms.  Snowsheds  had  not  then  l)een  devised,  and  the  engineers'  skill 
in  driving  tunnels  and  in  constructing  the  line  under  treacherous  project- 
ing cliffs  had  not  been  fully  realized. 


i8  Tx'land  Stanforfl  Jtmior  University 

It  was  therefore  said  that  tlie  difficulties  in  carrying"  the  hne  of  road 
over  the  summit  were  insurmountahle  and  that  it  would  not  he  accom- 
plished ;  that  the  road  as  a  pretended  part  of  a  transcontinental  line  was  a 
palpable  swindle;  that  the  pur])Ose  of  the  railroad  company  was  to  connect 
with  the  Dutch  Flat  wag-on  road  over  the  summit,  and  together  they  were 
to  become  a  part  of  a  scheme  for  the  transjiortation  of  freight  and  passen  ■ 
g-ers  from  California  to  the  Nevada  mines  during  the  favoral)le  season,  but 
no  further.  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  ignored  all  this  ad- 
verse criticism  of  the  project,  and  proceeded  with  the  work  on  the  line 
adopted,  with  every  possible  energy.  They  encountered  all  the  difficulties 
predicted  by  the  opponents  of  the  road,  and  even  more;  but  with  immense 
labor,  great  expense,  and  the  engineers'  skill,  the  difficulties  were  all 
overcome.  Judah  was  dead,  but  he  had  been  succeeded  by  al)le  and  dar- 
ing engineers  under  Montague  and  Hood. 

While  this  work  was  going  on  T  had  occasion  to  go  to  the  front  on 
several  occasions.  Its  novel  and  stupendous  character  made  it  attractive, 
and  those  who  have  been  watching  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal 
with  continuing  interest  may  understand  the  intense  interest  of  the  people 
of  California  in  the  construction  of  this  railroad  as  it  climbed  the  steep 
slopes  of  the  Sierras,  and  when  it  had  passed  the  summit  at  an  altitude  of 
more  than  7000  feet  there  was  then,  as  there  has  been  recently  with  respect 
to  the  Panama  Canal,  a  decided  feeling  of  relief  that  after  all  the  great 
difficulties  in  the  way  had  been  overcome,  and  a  transcontinental  railroad 
was  assured.  The  descent  of  the  road  down  the  steep  eastern  slope  of 
the  Sierras  also  required  an  immense  amount  of  labor  and  a  high  degree 
of  engineering  skill,  but  in  time  that  too  was  accomplished  and  the  con- 
struction of  the  road  through  Nevada  was  carried  forward  with  great 
rapidity. 

On  May  10,  1869,  a  connection  was  made  at  Promontory  Point,  in 
Utah,  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  that  was  being  built  west  from  the 
Missouri  River  under  the  act  of  Congress,  and  thereupon  the  last  spike  wa.> 
driven  by  Governor  Stanford  and  the  completion  of  the  first  transconti- 
nental railroad  became  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  nation. 

But  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  did  not  stop  with  the 
l)uilding  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  When  that  road  had  reached 
Colfax  in  1865,  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  constructing  the  road 
over  the  summit  were  beginning  to  loom  up  before  them,  with  won- 
derful   boldness    and    foresight    they  incorporated    the    Southern  Pacific 


The  Founders  of  the  University  19 

Railroad  Company  to  build  a  railroad  over  a  somewhat  indefinite  line 
from  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  to  Los  Anj^eles  and  San  Diego : 
and  thence  eastward  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state,  thei;e 
to  connect  with  a  contemplated  railroad  running  to  the  Mississipjji 
River.  Los  Angeles  was  at  that  time  a  modest,  unpretentious 
village  of  less  than  5000  inhabitants.  San  Diego,  with  a  i)Oj)ulation  of 
about  1500,  was  a  little  more  important  by  reason  of  its  harbor,  but  it 
had  no  other  advantage  over  Los  Angeles. 

Why  any  person  at  that  time  should  want  to  build  a  railroad  from  S:iii 
Francisco  to  that  part  of  the  state,  in  competition  with  vessels  by  sea,  was 
to  the  average  person  a  mystery;  but  to  Governor  Stanford  and  his  asso- 
ciates there  was  no  mystery  about  it.  They  foresaw  the  immense  possi- 
bilities of  the  San  Joaquin  A'alley  and  the  southern  part  of  the  state  and 
they  proposed  to  have  a  part  in  developing  their  wonderful  resources. 
And  this  is  what  they  did  in  the  face  of  active  and  aggressive  opposition  : 

In  1866  Congress  granted  lands  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad 
from  Springfield  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  (about  195  miles  southwest  of 
St.  Louis),  through  the  Indian  Territory  to  Albuquerque  in  New  Mexico, 
thence  through  Arizona,  along  and  near  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  of  lati- 
tude, to  the  Colorado  River,  and  thence  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  road 
was  incorporated  and  constructed  as  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad. 
It  had  for  its  incorporators  some  of  the  most  noted  bankers  and  railroad 
men  in  the  country,  and  had  every  prospect  of  becoming  one  of  the  great 
transcontinental  railroads.  This  road  is  now  a  part  of  the  Atchison,  To- 
peka  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad.  In  the  granting  act  to  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  the  Southern  Pacific,  which  had  only  been  incorporated  a  few 
months  before,  was  authorized  to  connect  with  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Railroad  at  such  point  near  the  boundary  line  of  the  state  as  might  be 
most  suitable  for  a  railroad  line  to  San  Francisco.  This  point  was  subse- 
quently fixed  at  the  Needles,  on  the  Colorado  River. 

In  187 1  Congress  also  passed  an  act  incorporating  the  Texas  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  with  an  imposing  list  of  incorporators.  The  act 
granted  lands  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  railroad  from  Marshall,  near 
the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state  of  Texas,  along  and  near  the  thirty- 
second  parallel  of  latitude,  to  El  Paso,  Texas,  thence  through  New  Mex- 
ico and  Arizona  to  a  point  on  the  Colorado  River  near  the  southeastern 
boundary  of  the  state  of  California,  and  thence  to  San  Diego.  For  the 
purpose  of  connecting  this  road  with  San  Francisco,  the  Southern  Pacific 


20  Leland  v^tanford  Juninr  I'niversity 

Railroad  Company  was  authorized  l)y  the  act  to  construct  a  road  l)y  way 
of  the  Tehachapi  Pass  and  Los  x^ngeles  to  the  Colorado  River.  This 
point  on  the  Colorado  River  was  subsequently  fixed  at  Yuma. 

To  meet  these  two  roads  at  the  points  indicated  on  the  eastern  boun- 
dary of  the  state  of  California,  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates 
constructed  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  from  Lathrop  down  the  San  Joa- 
quin Valley  to  Goshen,  and  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  from  that  point 
over  and  across  the  Tehachapi  ran^e  of  mountains  to  Los  Angeles.  From 
Mohave,  on  the  Mohave  Desert,  they  built  a  railroad  across  the  desert 
eastward  to  the  Needles  on  the  Colorado  River,  to  connect  with  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Pacific  Railroad,  and  from  Los  Angeles  they  built  a  railroad  east- 
ward down  into  the  Colorado  Desert  260  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea, 
thence  rising  to  and  crossing  the  Colorado  River  at  Yuma  to  meet  the 
Texas  Pacific. 

In  this  way  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  authorized  by  law  met 
and  blocked  these  two  roads  coming  from  the  east  at  the  boundary  line  of 
the  state,  the  one  temporarily  and  the  other  permanently.  The  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  subsequently  purchased  the  Southern  Pacific  line  from  Mohave  to 
the  Needles,  and  the  Santa  Fe,  its  successor,  finally  reached  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco  by  an  independent  terminal  at  Point  Richmond.  The  Texas 
Pacific  Railroad  never  reached  the  Colorado  River,  but  the  Southern 
Pacific,  building  eastward  from  Yuma,  pushed  on  across  Arizona  an  1 
New  Mexico  and  met  the  Texas  Pacific  at  the  Rio  Grande,  near  El  Paso, 
in  the  state  of  Texas. 

Under  another  act  of  Congress,  passed  in  1866,  the  Central  Pacific 
Railroad,  under  the  name  of  the  California  and  Oregon  Railroad,  was 
authorized  to  build  northward  toward  the  Oregon  line  to  connect  with 
another  railroad  coming  south  from  Portland,  Oregon.  This  fine  was 
built  and  a  road  opened  to  Portland. 

Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  also  acquired  control  of  short  lines 
by  which  they  reached  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  from  the  Sacramento 
and  San  Joaquin  Valleys.  They  also  built  a  line  down  the  coast ;  and  with 
all  these  lines,  connections  and  terminals  they  secured  substantial  control  of 
the  transportation  facilities  of  the  state,  and  in  1885  they  merged  all  of 
these  railroads  under  the  control  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company. 

I  mention  these  matters  to  show  with  what  determination,  force  and 
ability  these  men  pushed  forward  against  formidable  opposition,  and  in 
the  face  of  difficulties  obtained  the  substantial  control  of  the  transporta- 


The  Founders  of  the  University  21 

tion  facihties  of  the  stale.  It  has  l:)een  said  that  others  could  have  done 
the  same  thintj  with  the  same  assistance  in  national  bonds,  land  grants 
and  other  contributions.  The  fact  remains  that  others,  with  like  oppor- 
tunities, did  not  make  the  effort,  and  that  others  failed,  with  the  same 
opportunities  to  carry  to  successful  completion  corresponding  enterprises. 
Every  transcontinental  railroad  coming  westward  toward  the  coast,  and 
with  wdiich  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  or  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
was  authorized  to  connect,  failed  at  one  time  or  another  to  meet  its 
financial  obligations,  and  was  placed  by  the  courts  in  the  hands  of  re- 
ceivers. Further  comparisons  are  tempting,  but  will  not  be  pursued  on 
this  occasion. 

It  is  a  fair  question,  however,  to  ask  :  What  have  been  the  financial  oper- 
citions  of  the  corporations  involved  in  the  Southern  Pacific  System?  Have 
any  of  these  failed  to  meet  their  obligations?  Have  any  of  them  been  in 
the  hands  of  receivers?  We  find  no  such  records.  They  appear  to  have 
paid  their  debts  at  maturity,  including  the  bonded  debt  and  interest  due 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Central  Pacific.  Perhaps  some  credit  may  be 
due  to  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  for  so  having  managed  these 
properties  that  all  the  corporations  under  their  control  have  maintained 
their  financial  integrity  from  the  first  spadeful  of  earth  turned  on  the  8th 
day  of  January,  1863,  down  to  the  present  time. 

During  all  this  time  of  construction  Governor  Stanford  continued  at 
the  head  of  the  corporations  incorporated  into  this  one  controlling  sys- 
tem. The  people  and  press  of  the  state  protested  against  the  system,  and 
charged  that  a  grasping  monopol}-  had  been  formed  to  appropriate  the 
transportation  facilities  of  the  state.  It  was  insisted  that  competitive 
transcontinental  lines  should  be  admitted  into  the  state  and  competition  in 
freight  and  passenger  rates  secured. 

-f'  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  proceeded  upon  the  theory  that 
whatever  monopoly  there  was  in  the  Southern  Pacific  system  was  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  state ;  that  what  the  state  needed  was  the  develop- 
ment of  its  extensive  and  valuable  resources,  and  that  to  do  this  it  was 
imperative  that  railroad  transportation  be  extended  to  all  points  of  the 
state  where  business  would  justify  it,  either  presently  or  prospectively ; 
that  one  corporation  or  one  system,  with  its  connecting  lines  and  termi- 
nals, could  do  this  better  and  cheaper  than  several :  that  additional  trans- 
continental lines  would  not  be  competitive,  and  would  not  confer  the  bene- 
fits that  were  expected  by  the  public. 


22  T/elniul  Stanford  Junior  I''^niversity 

Durinjj;  the  time  that  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  continued 
in  control  of  the  Southern  Pacific  System  they  never  swerved  in  their 
adherence  to  this  poHcy.  Neither  did  the  ])ress  nor  the  puhHc,  until  very 
recently,  abandon  their  opposition  to  that  policy.  The  Santa  Fe  came 
into  the  state  as  a  competing-  road  for  business,  but  not  with  respect  to 
rates  for  freight  and  fares,  which  now  became  matters  for  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  and  the  State  Railroad  Commission. 

This  question  of  railroad  competition  now  comes  up  in  a  legal  aspect. 
The  federal  government  has  submitted  to  the  courts  the  question  whether 
the  merging  of  the  Central  Pacific  and  its  terminals  into  the  Southern 
Pacific  svstem  is  a  monopoly  in  restraint  of  trade  and  commerce  in  viola- 
tion of  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law.  This  action  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernment is  now  being  vigorously  resisted  by  substantially  the  entire  busi- 
ness interests  of  the  state,  upon  the  ground  that  the  merging  of  these 
connecting  hues  and  terminal  facilities  twenty-nine  years  ago  was  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  people  of  this  state,  and  is  so  now.  The  farseeing 
policy  that  constructed  this  system  is  now  approved  by  the  public,  and 
the  policy  of  Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  in  extending  and  de- 
veloping the  Southern  Pacific  System  from  1865  to  1885  is  now  the 
declared  policy  of  the  people  of  the  state  of  California  in  dealing  with  this 
transcontinental  transportation  question.  Upon  this  legal  question,  for  ob- 
vious reasons,  I  express  no  opinion,  but  upon  the  question  of  policy  I  have 
the  opinion  of  a  citizen  that  the  present  situation  should  not  be  disturbed. 

I  now  come  to  a  period  of  a  very  different  character,  when  my  rela- 
tions with  Governor  Stanford  became  official,  personal  and  in  some  re- 
spects quite  intimate.  In  January,  1885,  Governor  Stanford  was  elected 
bv  the  legislature  of  the  state  to  the  United  States  senate  for  the  term  of 
six  years  commencing  on  March  4,  1885.  I  had  been  elected  in  Novem- 
ber, 1884,  to  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  San  Francisco  dis- 
trict, for  the  term  of  two  years  commencing  also  on  March  4,  1885.  By 
re-election  I  served  six  years  in  the  Plouse  of  Representatives,  from  1885 
to  1891. 

Senator  Stanford's  colleagues  in  the  Senate  from  California  during  his 
term  of  service  were  in  succession,  General  John  F.  Miller,  George  Hearst, 
A.  P.  Williams,  Charles  N.  Felton  and  Stephen  M.  \\'hite.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives  during  that  time  there  were  from  California,  among 
olhers,  Charles  N.  Felton,  afterwards  United  States  Senator,  and  Joseph 
McKenna,  afterwards  United  States  Circuit  Judge,  Attorney  General  of 


The  Founders  of  the  University  23 

the  United  States,  and  now  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  transaction  of  public  business  relating  to  California  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  Senator  Stanford  to  have  frequent  conferences  at  his  house 
with  the  California  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  who  were 
his  party  associates  concerning  California  matters.  These  conferences 
were  nearly  always  interesting,  and  sometimes  amusing, — interesting  be- 
cause they  either  related  to  some  matter  of  legislation  before  Congress, 
or  something  pending  before  one  or  more  of  the  departments  in  which 
important  interests  of  the  state  were  concerned, — amusing  because  of  the 
extraordinary  demands  made  upon  the  senators  and  members  of  Congress 
Ijy  their  constituents, — from  turnip  seed,  popcorn  and  offices  to  patents  for 
nutmeg  graters  and  flying  machines.  We  speak  of  public  officials  as  public 
servants,  but  we  never  use  that  term  with  so  much  accuracy  and  feeling 
as  when  we  apply  it  to  senators  or  representatives  in  Congress.  They 
are  public  servants,  practical! v  as  well  as  theoretically,  with  only  one 
substantial  privilege  at  their  service, — and  that  is  to  make  speeches  in 
the  Congressional  Record  and  send  them  free  through  the  mail  to  their 
constituents.  Senator  Stanford,  however,  never  availed  himself  of  this 
privilege.  His  speeches  were  all  actually  delivered.  He  was  an  efficient, 
conscientious  public  servant,  ]:)erforming  all  his  duties  faithfully  and  cheer- 
fully. He  never  complained  of  the  burden  of  small  and  often  trifling 
demands. 

One  of  the  first  subjects  of  national  importance  to  engage  his  atten- 
tion was  that  of  education,  in  v/liich  he  was  deeply  interested.  A  bill 
had  been  introduced  in  Congress  by  Senator  Blair  of  New  Hampshire  to 
aid  in  the  establishment  and  temporary  support  of  the  common  schools. 
The  bill  provided  for  the  distribution  of  seventy-seven  millions  of  dollars 
among  the  several  states  and  territories  in  proportion  to  the  illiteracy 
in  each  state  or  territory.  The  distribution  was  to  be  in  installments 
covering  a  period  of  eight  years.  The  bill  was  fully  discussed  by  the  lead- 
mg  senators  and  representatives.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  in  the 
Senate,  on  February  25,  1890,  Senator  Stanford  delivered  a  speech  in 
support  of  the  bill  in  which  he  said  some  pertinent  things  about  education. 

"In  my  opinion,"  said  he,  "our  government  can  have  no  higher  object 
than  to  secure  to  the  people  a  high  degree  of  intelligence,  thereby  assist- 
ing them  to  the  attainment  of  the  possibilities  of  humanity.  These  pos- 
sibilities and  the  beneficence  of  the  Creator  to  man  on  earth  are  one  and 


24  l/cland   Stanford  Jiininr  Univcrsil\- 

the  same,  for  it  is  obvious  tliat  tlicrc  couUl  l)c  no  beneficence  in  the  un- 
attainable. Had  we  been  p^iven  reasonal)le  wants  without  the  means  of 
gratifying-  them,  the  Creator's  beneficence  would  be  a  failure. 

"Rut  when  we  look  around  at  the  sources  of  supply  for  our  want^. 
whether  spiritual  or  intellectual,  we  find  them  inexhaustibly  su])])lied  in 
the  soil,  waters,  forests,  mines  and  quarries.  The  raw  material  is  every- 
where within  our  reach,  requiring  only  the  intelligent  application  of  labor 
and  the  control  of  the  forces  of  nature.  How  this  labor  is  to  be  supp''  d, 
and  this  control  obtained,  is  what  education  will  teach." 
j  He  believed  in  education  of  the  masses,  and  he  particularly  favored  the 
bill  then  under  consideration,  because  it  provided  for  the  education  of  both 
sexes  alike  for  their  respective  callings.  He  believed  in  the  early  educa- 
tion of  the  child  for  the  moral  influence  it  would  have  in  forming  his  char- 
acter and  in  laying  the  fotmdation  for  his  future  efficiency.  He  believed 
in  educating  all  classes  for  the  active  duties  of  life,  and  for  the  deeper 
insight  it  gave  into  nature,  and  the  greater  knowledge  of  her  wonderful 
forces,  which,  being  understood,  developed  and  brought  under  control, 
would  enable  humanity  to  realize  the  glorious  destiny  marked  out  for  it 
by  the  Creator. 

The  bill  which  he  was  then  supporting  was  defeated,  mainly,  as  I  recall, 
on  constitutional  grounds.  But  he  supported  other  educational  bills  which 
became  laws,  notably  bills  in  aid  of  state  agricultural  colleges,  providing 
lor  experimental  stations,  and  a  more  thorough  training  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  was  himself  an  agriculturist  on  a  large  scale,  and  with  his 
extensive  land  holdings  he  naturally  took  a  practical  interest  in  the  indus- 
trv.  But  his  interest  was  much  more  than  personal.  He  viewed  the 
production  of  the  soil  from  the  standpoint  of  the  nation's  welfare,  and 
believed  that  the  nation  might  increase  its  wealth  enormously  by  the  intro- 
duction of  intelligent,  economical  methods. 

He  accordingly  proposed  a  scheme  of  government  loans  on  real  estate, 
which  should  have  the  double  purpose  of  furnishing  the  country  with  an 
elastic  currency  of  sufficient  volume  to  meet  its  requirements,  and  at  the 
same  time  supply  the  farmer  with  money  at  a  low  rate  of  interest  to  meet 
tiic  necessities  of  his  calling  and  make  agriculture  profitable  and  attractive. 
The  scheme  was  a  bold  one,  but  it  was  one  in  which  Senator  Stanford  had 
the  utmost  confidence,  and  he  was  astonished  that  it  did  not  receive  gen- 
eral approval.  I  think  the  greatest  disappointment  he  suffered  during  his 
senatorial  career  was  his  failure  to  secure  any  general  support  for  this 


The  Founders  of  the  University  25 

bill.  The  scheme  was  discussed  very  generally  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  but,  I  think,  adversely. 

In  view  of  recent  legislation,  it  would  seem  that  his  failure  was  due 
mainly  to  the  fact  that  he  was  at  least  twenty  years  in  advance  of  the 
times. 

Senator  Stanford  was  essentially  a  progressive,  and  he  was  generally 
a  pioneer  in  whatever  he  undertook,  whether  it  was  the  formation  of  a  po- 
litical party,  building  a  railroad,  developing  some  new  industry,  or  found- 
ing a  university.  He  could  see  well  into  the  future,  and  he  usuallv  saw 
his  efiforts  successful ;  but  in  this  instance  he  did  not  see  his  scheme 
adopted.  Now,  I  am  not  going  to  discuss  this  financial  question  in  any 
great  detail.  Mr.  Gladstone  is  reported  to  have  said  in  a  debate  in  the 
British  House  of  Commons  concerning  some  financial  measure  before  it, 
that  there  were  two  roads  distinctly  marked  leading  directly  to  the  mad- 
house,— one  was  the  study  of  a  railroad  timetable,  and  the  other  was  the 
study  of  the  principles  of  banking  and  currency.  For  your  sakes  as  well 
as  for  my  own,  I  shall  touch  but  lightly  upon  this  financial  question. 

But  a  few  words  of  explanation  are  necessary  to  understand  the  full 
scope  and  purpose  of  Senator  Stanford's  scheme. 

The  United  States  loans  its  credit  to  national  banks  in  national  bank 
notes  issued  upon  the  security  of  United  States  bonds  deposited  with  the 
treasurer  of  the  United  States.  Senator  Stanford  proposed  that  the 
United  States  should  also  loan  its  credit  to  farmers  in  treasury  notes  on 
the  security  of  real  estate.  The  United  States  loans  its  credit  to  national 
banks  in  national  bank  notes  in  amounts  equal  to  the  par  value  of  the 
bonds  deposited.  Senator  Stanford  proposed  that  the  United  States  should 
loan  its  credit  to  farmers  in  treasury  notes  on  the  security  of  real  estate  to 
an  extent  not  to  exceed  fifty  per  cent  of  its  assessed  valuation.  The 
United  States  loans  its  credit  to  national  banks  in  national  bank  notes, 
without  interest.  Senator  Stanford  proposed  that  the  United  States  should 
loan  its  credit  to  farmers  in  treasury  notes  at  two  per  cent  per  annum.  So 
iar  the  farmer  would  seem  to  have  the  better  claim  to  the  loan  of  treasury 
notes ;  but  financiers  tell  us  that  we  now  encounter  difficulties.  The 
amount  of  United  States  bonds  available  as  security  for  national  bank 
notes  is  limited,  and  could  not  become  the  basis  of  an  inflated  currencv, 
whereas  the  amount  of  mortgages  that  would  be  tendered  the  United 
States  for  loans  of  treasury  notes  at  two  per  cent  per  annum  would  be 


26  Iceland  Stanford  junior  LTniversity 

practically  unlimited  and  would  become  the  foundation  for  an  enormously 
inflated  currency. 

We  know  from  experience  that  a  currency  in  excess  of  the  actual  ne- 
cessities of  the  people  causes  a  rise  in  prices  and  frequently  wild  specu- 
lation, followed  by  disaster  and  ruin.  We  also  know  on  the  other  hand 
that  a  currency  that  is  not  sufficien.t  to  enable  the  people  to  carry  on  their 
business  operations  freely  and  without  stringency  depreciates  values, 
causes  panics  and  Hkewise  results  in  disaster  and  ruin.  Both  of  these 
extremes  should,  therefore,  be  avoided,  so  that  the  business  of  the  coun- 
try may  be  conducted  freely  and  as  near  as  may  be  upon  a  continuous  uni- 
form unit  of  value. 

In  1890  the  situation  was  one  of  violent  controversy.  There  was  evi- 
dence that  the  volume  of  currency  was  not  keeping  pace  with  the  growth 
of  the  country,  and  by  reason  of  that  fact,  and  general  distrust  of  finan- 
cial conditions,  contraction  of  the  currency  was  then  in  actual  progress. 
Gold  was  the  unit  of  value,  but  to  prevent  further  contraction  and  pro- 
vide a  more  elastic  medium  of  exchange  there  were  a  large  number  of 
people  who  advocated  the  free  coinage  of  silver  as  the  solution  of  the 
]jroblem.  This  of  itself  was  deemed  by  the  business  interests  to  be  an 
overshadowing  menace  to  the  sound  financial  condition  of  the  country, 
and  by  reason  of  legislation  tending  rapidly  in  that  direction,  the  danger 
appeared  to  be  imminent  and  financial  storm  signals  were  then  being  set 
lorecasting  the  panic  of  1893,  which  swept  over  the  country  with  such 
terrific  fury. 

While  this  financial  storm  was  brewing  Senator  Stanford  in  perfect 
good  faith  to  meet  the  situation  brought  forward  his  land  loan  scheme. 
He  first  introduced  a  resolution  in  the  senate  on  March  10,  1890,  instruct- 
mg  the  finance  committee  of  that  body  to  report  what  relief  might  be 
provided  by  the  United  States  government  for  the  stringency  in  the  money 
market,  and  particularly  whether  loans  might  be  made  by  the  government 
upon  mortgages.  This  resolution  failed  to  receive  any  consideration. 
On  May  20,  1890,  he  introduced  a  bill  entitled,  "A  bill  to  provide  the 
government  with  sufificient  means  to  supply_  the  national  gov- 
ernment with  a  sound  circulating  medium."  '  This  bill  provided  that 
the  treasurer  of  the  United  States  should  cause  to  be  printed  notes  of  the 
united  States  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  such 
additional  amounts  from  time  to  time  as  should  be  necessary  to  meet 
tiie    requirements    of    the  act.     These    notes    were  to  be  a  legal  tender 


The  Founders  of  the  University  27 

for  all  private  and  certain  puhlic  debts,  and  were  to  be  loaned  on  unin- 
cumbered agricultural  land  upon  interest  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent  per 
annum.  A  loan  was  not  to  exceed  one-half  of  the  assessed  value  of  the 
land  and  for  a  term  of  not  to  exceed  twenty  years.  No  loan  was  to  be 
for  a  sum  less  than  $250.  The  bill  provided  for  a  Inireau  in  the  treasury 
department  to  administer  the  provisions  of  the  act. 

A  few  days  after  the  introduction  of  this  bill  Senator  Stanford  made 
a  speech  in  its  support  in  which  he  explained  its  provisions,  and  contended 
that  the  plan  of  loaning  money  upon  land  at  two  per  cent,  with  the  privi- 
lege to  the  borrower  of  returning  it  when  he  had  no  use  for  it,  would  create 
a  money  system  that  would  meet  financial  expansions  and  contractions  as 
they  might  occur.  He  did  not  claim,  however,  that  his  bill  had  been  per- 
fected in  detail.  What  he  did  claim  was  that  the  principle  of  loaning  the 
credit  of  the  nation  upon  sufficient  security,  to  those  who  needed  it,  should 
be  extended  to  the  farmers  on  the  security  of  real  estate  as  had  already 
been  done  to  the  national  banks  on  the  security  of  United  States  bonds, 
and  that  the  financial  condition  of  the  country  urgently  required  immediate 
legislation  to  that  end.  The  bill  was  referred  to  the  senate  committee  on 
finance.  That  committee,  composed,  it  must  be  said,  of  able  and  experi- 
enced statesmen,  reported  on  the  bill  adversely,  classifying  the  proposed 
scheme  with  a  number  of  others  in  this  country  and  elsewhere  that  had  op- 
erated disastrously.  The  committee  held  the  bill  to  be  bad  in  substance 
and  unconstitutional.  Upon  this  report  the  bill  w:)s  indefinitely  post- 
poned. 

In  January,  1891,  Senator  Stanford  was  re-elected  to  the  senate  for  a 
second  term  of  six  years  and  he  again  introduced  his  land  loan  bill  with 
another  bill  placing  the  scheme  squarely  upon  a  gold  basis.     In  January, 

1892,  he  made  another  and  more  elaborate  speech  in  its  support,  at  the 
same  time  replying  to  the  adverse  report  of  the  finance  committee  made 
in  the  previous  Congress.  He  was  now  thoroughly  aroused  and  defended 
his  scheme  with  great  force.  A  Kansas  senator  came  to  his  support,  and 
it  looked  as  though  the  bill  was  about  to  be  considered  on  its  merits,  and 
amended  so  as  to  provide  against  the  possibility  of  an  inflated  currency. 
The  bill  was  pending  in  the  senate  at  the  time  of  Senator  Stanford's  death 
on  June  21,  1893. 

At  the  memorial  exercises  in  the  United  States  Senate  on  September  16, 

1893,  and  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  February  12,  1894,  the 
members  of  both  houses  paid  feeling  tributes  to  the  life  and  character  of 


28  Lcland  Stanford  Junior  Tniversily 

Senator  Stanford.  The  address  of  Senator  Daniel  of  Virginia,  in  jiartic- 
iilar,  was  very  impressive  by  reason  of  the  eloquent  and  feeling  person- 
ality of  his  remarks.  He  referred  to  the  land  loan  bill  in  terms  that  cor- 
lesponded  so  nearly  with  my  own  experience  that  I  venture  to  repeat 
them  here : 

"He"  (Senator  Stanford)  "had  some  ideas  which  he  was  never  able  to 
impress  upon  his  associates  as  being  practicable,  among  them  his  idea  of 
lending  vast  amounts  of  money  upon  land.  I  have  talked  with  him  for 
hours  and  hours  upon  repeated  occasions  on  that  theme,  and  he  often 
urged  me  to  adopt  his  views  and  advocate  them.  I  could  never  see  that 
they  were  practicable,  and  with  all  my  respect  for  him  and  desire  to  meet 
his  wishes  I  could  not,  of  course,  comply  with  his  request.  Yet  let  me 
say  that  beneath  the  difficulties  which  present  themselves  to  such  an  idea 
as  he  had  formed,  there  are  in  it  germs  of  truth  and  wisdom  such  as 
are  found  in  the  first  evolutions  of  invention,  which,  in  a  later  and  riper 
day  of  the  world's  history,  may  be  developed  into  much  that  is  attain- 
able and  good.  '''  *  *  *  As  the  world's  population  shall  increase, 
and  as  financial  refinements  and  facilities  shall  be  developed,  there  will 
be  found  in  this  idea  much  to  build  upon,  and  in  the  end  probably  some 
ripe  consummation." 

How  gracious  and  candid  this  was  on  the  part  of  that  distinguished 
Senator.  That  was  twenty  years  ago.  We  have  experienced  some 
squally  financial  times  since  then.  The  period  commenced  with  the  panic 
of  1893  ^"d  included  the  panic  of  1907;  but  the  country  has  made  sub- 
stantial progress  in  its  financial  system  during  this  time,  and  what  is  most 
Interesting  for  us  here  today,  in  the  direction  of  Senator  Stanford's  scheme. 
This  progress  will  be  found  in  the  receni  act  of  December  23,  1913,  pro- 
viding for  reserve  banks  and  an  elastic  currency,  with  gold  as  the  stand- 
ard of  values.  Mr.  Horace  White,  the  well  known  editor  and  financial 
expert,  writing  of  this  act  in  the  North  American  Review,  says : 

"Twenty  years  was  required  to  prepare  public  opinion,  including  that 
of  bankers  and  congressmen,  for  the  adoption  of  asset  currency  in  the 
place  of  bond  currency." 

"Asset  currency,"  as  here  used,  means  a  currency  based  upon  the  secur- 
ity of  the  constantly  maturing  obligations  of  the  banks'  customers,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  currency  based  upon  the  security  of  United  States 
bonds. 

This  act  has  had  the  effect  of  opening  avenues  of  credit  in  national 


The  Founders  of  the  University  29 

banks  to  classes  of  borrowers  who  have  never  had  access  to  it  before, 
and  one  such  class  is  that  of  the  farmer.  When  Senator  Stanford  was 
urging-  his  bill  before  Congress,  national  banks  were  prohibited  from  loan- 
ing monev  on  real  estate.  The  farmer  might  have  a  very  valuable  tract 
of  improved  land,  but  he  could  not  pledge  it  to  the  national  banks  as  se- 
curity for  any  sum  of  money  or  for  any  length  of  time.  If  he  had  per- 
sonal credit  with  the  bank  he  might  obtain  what  is  called  a  commercial 
loan  for  sixty  or  ninety  days,  but  not  for  a  longer  period,  or  upon  any 
other  security  than  that  of  personal  credit.  Under  the  recent  act  of  Con- 
gress national  banks  are  authorized  to  make  loans  on  farm  lands  for  a 
period  not  to  exceed  five  years,  to  the  extent  of  fifty  per  cent  of  the  valu- 
ition  of  such  lands.  The  act  also  provides  that  national  banks  may  dis- 
count notes,  drafts  and  bills  of  exchange  secured  by  agricultural  products, 
with  the  maturity  of  the  paper  extended  to  six  months. 

This  legislation  is  all  new,  and  is  based  substantially  upon  the  basic 
principle  of  Senator  Stanford's  land  loan  bill,  but  differing  in  detail.  For 
example,  under  the  act  the  loan  reaches  the  borrower  through  a  national 
bank;  under  Senator  Stanford's  plan  the  loan  would  reach  the  borrower 
directly  from  the  government.  The  act  also  provides  the  security  of 
reserves  against  an  inflated  currency.  This  was  lacking  in  Senator  Stan- 
ford's plan.  But  this  is  not  all.  There  are  pending  before  Congress  a 
number  of  bills  providing  for  a  national  system  of  banking  based  upon 
iural  credits  exclusively;  that  is  to  say,  loans  to  farmers  on  mortgages 
for  long  terms  at  a  low  rate  of  interest.  There  is  every  prospect  that 
some  measure  of  that  character  will  become  a  law  during  the  present 
Congress.  If  it  does,  the  fundamental  idea  of  Senator  Stanford's  land 
ioan  bill  will  have  been  fully  realized,  and  Senator  Daniel's  prediction  of 
a  ripe  consummation  will  prove  to  be  something  more  than  a  mere  figure 
of  speech. 

We  come  now  to  the  last  and  most  impressive  and  im])ortant  act  of 
Senator  Stanford's  remarkable  career, — the  founding  of  this  great  univer- 
sity, when  he  said,  "The  children  of  California  shall  be  my  children."  Tn 
this  act  we  associate  the  name  of  that  true  and  faithful  com]-)anion  and 
devoted  wife,  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford.  The  founding  of  this  university 
was  the  blending  of  the  pride  and  glory  of  both  of  their  lives,  in  a  vision  of 
higher  needs  and  deeper  realities.  For  thirty-five  years  they  had  been 
co-workers  in  all  of  the  aflfairs  of  life,  reaching  out  to  noble  works  and 
generous  deeds.     But  now,  in  memory  of  their  idolized  son,  thev  lov- 


30  Leland  Stanford  Junior  I'^niversity 

ingly  united  in  foundin.c:  this  institution  as  a  perpetual  memorial  to  his 
youthful  amiiition  to  l)etter  the  world  hy  edueation. 

In  January,  1885,  Senator  Stanford  sulnnitted  to  the  let,dslature  of  this 
state  an  act  to  advance  learninp:.  the  arts  and  sciences,  by  providing:  for 
the  foundation  and  endowment  within  the  state  of  universities  and  other 
institutions  of  learning.  This  act  passed  both  houses  of  the  legislature 
and  was  approved  by  the  governor  on  March  9.  1885, — twenty-nine  years 
ago  today.  This  act  was  general  in  its  terms  and  in  accordance  with  the 
constitutional  requirement,  but  was  intended  to  be  and  was  in  fact  the 
foundation  of  this  university.  It  is  a  happy  coincidence  that  we  com- 
memorate the  birth  of  the  founder,  Lelantl  Stanford,  and  the  foundation 
act,  on  the  same  day. 

The  selection  of  the  tirst  i)resident  for  this  university  was  a  matter  of 
verv  serious  concern  with  Senator  and  Mrs.  Stanford.  Their  ideal  of 
s  president  was  as  exceptional  and  as  exalted  as  their  ideal  of  the  institu- 
tion they  were  founding;  and  accordingly  the  whole  field  of  eligible  per- 
sons was  thoroughly  canvassed,  and  the  qualifications  of  each  carefully 
weighed  with  respect  to  the  immediate  work  of  organization,  as  well  as 
abilitv  to  project  the  lines  of  future  development.  It  was  from  such  a 
process  of  weighing  and  sifting  that  the  selection  fell  upon  that  distin- 
guished scientist  and  able  executive,  David  Starr  Jordan. 

Senator  and  Mrs.  Stanford  were  very  earnest  and  very  laborious  in  the 
effort  to  frame  the  outline  of  an  institution  whose  teachings  would  be  of 
the  highest  character.  They  believed  in  the  value  of  present  knowl- 
edge, but  thev  also  believed  in  the  value  of  work  expended  in  the  discover v 
of  new  truths.  They  believed  in  teaching  the  student  how  to  thread  his 
way  through  the  known  regions  of  knowledge,  but  they  also  believed  in 
extending  the  boundaries  of  knowledge  into  the  unexplored  that  human- 
ity might  know  and  possess  its  inheritance.  An  institution  to  correspond 
to  such  a  plan  must  necessarily  be  a  growth,  the  result  of  the  slow  process 
of  evolution. 

"Every  true  man,"  says  Emerson,  "is  a  cause,  a  country  and  an  age: 
requires  infinite  spaces  and  numbers  and  time  fully  to  accomplish  his 
design.'' 

We  look  upon  this  university  in  that  light,  and  behold  it  in  the  process 
of  development  reflecting  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  its  founders.  We  see 
now  the  university  taking  its  place  as  a  force  in  the  march  of  progress, 
advancing  the  standards  of  skill  and  efficiency,  and  equipping  explorers 


The  Founders  of  the  University  31 

for  new  fields  of  knowledge  in  the  search  for  truth.  We  see  it  working 
cut  its  destiny  in  promoting  "the  public  welfare  by  exercising  an  influence 
in  behalf  of  humanity  and  civilization,  teaching  the  blessings  of  liberty 
regulated  by  law,  inculcating  love  and  reverence  for  the  great  principles 
of  government  as  derived  from  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  to  life,  lib- 
erty and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

We  assemble  here  today  to  recall  these  works,  revive  the  prophetic 
vision  of  the  founders,  and  pay  our  tribute  of  respect  to  the  genius  of  the 
builders  who,  building  as  they  knew,  built  for  all  lime. 


THE  LIBBARY 

liNlVERSITY  OF  CALCFOI?!l!A 
l>OS  ANGELES 


UCLA-Young   Research    Library 

LD3024.5.S7   P3 

y 

II  nil  II  III   II  III  nil  III  1111  ll'll  II 


L  009   578  765   1 


V"*    ' 


